I Stand Corrected

And I'm happy about it. The following countries and organizations have offered aid in the relief effort:

Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, the European Union, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, NATO, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Organization of American States, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the World Health Organization to name a few.

Cuban President Fidel Castro, calling a "truce" in Havana's ideological enmity with Washington, offered to fly 1,100 doctors to Houston with 26 tons of medicine to treat people in the disaster area.

Castro's leftist ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to send cheap fuel but the State Department said a decision had not been made on whether to accept this offer.

In Mexico City, a Foreign Ministry official told reporters Mexico was sending 15 truckloads of water, food and medical supplies via Texas, and the Mexican navy had offered to send two ships, two helicopters and 15 amphibious vehicles.

The U.N. created a special task force to dispatch disaster experts, while the European Union volunteered to send water supply specialists.

via Reuters

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice stated that no offer will be refused, but will defer use of some resources to later when they may be more urgently needed. Makes sense to me. Some resources may be desparately needed now, but others will be needed later. I remember after the WTC bombings, thousands of people heeded the request for blood donations (and rightly so). I personally held off, knowing that even with the thousands of pints donated in the first days after the bombing, blood supplies would run low. And another call went out a week or so later. My personal philosophy is to allow others to jump in right away and I'll make my donations later when supplies are again running low. That doesn't mean I think I'm "better" than those at the head of the line. I just know that supplies can be depleted and will need to be filled.